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Originally Posted by velcro003
Traditional "talk therapies" attempt to change your emotions or behavior by changing your thoughts (i.e. through the left brain). Body psychotherapy works in the reverse, by using the body and your emotions to change how your nervous system responds. That is, it works through the right brain, not the left.
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I don't agree with this. I do only traditional talk therapy with my T, and he does not try to change my emotions, thoughts, or behaviors. Instead he does exactly what you say body therapy does--he uses the right brain not the left. And any change that happens is what I do, not something my T does.
Quote:
Originally Posted by velcro003
You see, although thoughts can marginally change our emotions, it is far more efficient - in terms of the way the brain is designed to work "from the bottom up". Body psychotherapy enables the brain to update its emotional wiring naturally (i.e. using the right brain), rather than willfully trying to impose change "from the top down" using thoughts (i.e. through the left brain).
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This is how my talk therapy is. We work from the bottom up. Working from the top down seems like a band-aid approach to me, and it doesn't seem like it would result in healing--at least with my particular wounds. My therapy is all about healing.
I guess I don't agree with how you have defined talk therapy. I don't see the dichotomy you have set up but find that my talk therapy has a lot in common with how you define body therapy. I don't think I'm the only one with this type of talk therapy.
I think there are lots of therapies out there, and we do need to find what works for us--a very individual solution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by velcro003
Body psychotherapy to me is all "new-agey."
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Hmmm, I wonder if my talk therapy is new agey?
I like this thought, for some reason.
Velcro, like me, you have expressed some hesitation about bodywork. Do you think that talk therapy that is more bottom up and healing-focused, rather than top down and changing-thoughts-focused, would appeal to you? (Or perhaps that is the type of talk therapy you already have?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by velcro003
And I AM more new agey!
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Hmmmm, maybe I am too!
I never thought of myself that way before, but maybe I am. I don't have the trappings, like believing in crystals or astrology, but maybe at heart I do align with some of the core beliefs.
Nice post.